Chapter 49 c
Leo raised his Powered Arm Bracer.
The bullet bounced off the bracer.
He followed up with another shot, taking out the Maelstrom who dared to fight back.
Blood sprayed from the man's face, splattering his companion.
That last Maelstrom did the most foolish, most forbidden thing to do in a fight:
he turned and ran, showing his back to the enemy.
Scrambling on hands and feet, he fled the narrow alley.
Before he could even feel relieved, suddenly,a blade tip burst out of his chest.
He froze for a second, then slowly lowered his head. He tried to do something, but his body had no strength left.
Leo pulled the katana free of his torso.
He collapsed like a sack of sludge, unable to move a single finger.
As life ebbed away, the reflection in his dimming eyes showed Leo elegantly shaking off blood and sheathing his sword.
Leo returned to the factory from before.
The few remaining Maelstrom had already been taken out by V, Jackie, and Lucy.
"I've checked the factory's surveillance. Those two black braindance editors are still inside, and they have no idea what happened out here."
"Come on—time to give them a surprise."
…
Gottfrid's black braindance editing studio lay deep in the factory.
Apparently, editing black braindances made good money:
he had not only hired Maelstrom as bodyguards but also installed two automated turrets along the only path to the studio.
Upon entering, Gottfrid and his son Frederick were fully immersed in black BD editing, oblivious to the four strangers who had just walked in.
Jackie made to wake them, but Leo suddenly raised a hand to stop him.
Leo slipped between father and son, heading for the display cabinet behind them.
That cabinet was lined with black braindances they had edited.
A quick glance at the labels showed content such as: human-animal scenes, forced piercing, extreme stimulation leading to suicide, bondage execution, and so on.
While Leo scanned the black BD labels, the father and son, still immersed in editing, suddenly started talking:
"Hold it, stop right there."
"But he hasn't yet—"
"Think, doesn't it feel like you're just stabbing a pillow?"
"All right, rewind one frame, amplify the pain feedback, plus the metallic tang…"
"You're really something, Freddy!"
"Cut the sweaty smell."
"Nah, leave it. Some folks dig that… We'll do two versions—one with the stink, one without, heh-heh."
"You're a genius, Dad."
Leo gave Lucy a nod.
A red glow flashed in Lucy's eyes.
She overlaid a line of blood-red text in Gottfrid and Frederick's braindance world:
"Time to wake up, gentlemen. Sun's already high!"
Only then did the father and son snap out of their editing trance and notice the four strangers in the room.
Frederick yelped for security,
while the older, calmer Gottfrid said, "Stop it, Freddy. If our security were still around, they wouldn't be here."
Soothing his son, Gottfrid fixed his gaze on Leo who was at the front, he assumed he was in charge. "If you wanted our lives, you wouldn't have bothered waking us. So I take it you're here for something else?"
"You two run a father-and-son business?"
Leo had seen family businesses before, but dragging one's own son into black braindance editing was akin to leading your child into drug production.
No parent with any conscience would do that.
Gottfrid tried to explain: "It's just business. People want it, we provide it. Even if we don't, someone else will."
No one with an intact moral compass could stomach black braindances. Jackie, a believer in God, was furious.
"Not everything can be called 'business!' Sure, others do the recording, but you two still edit it. That makes you just as guilty!"
Not daring to argue, Gottfrid mumbled in submission, "You… you're right."
The four intruders radiated enough menace that Frederick, practically crushed by the tension, blurted out, "Do you have some special request? You need real hardcore stuff or—?"
Gottfrid immediately cut him off: "Freddy!"
Seeing them quivering in fear, Leo stopped beating around the bush.
"A preacher's son was killed for a black BD. Ring a bell?"
"A preacher? We did get some footage of a few young boys recently, but no one said who their dad was… can you jog my memory?"
"Bryce Stone, a roaming preacher from Network 54, father of Bobby Stone, who died at age twelve."
"How old did you say the kid was? And… what did he look like? How was he killed?"
"You little—!"
Leo held back the enraged Jackie to keep him from killing Gottfrid outright.
Frederick spoke up. "Dad, I know which one he wants—BD_9430."
Without a word, V walked past them, spotted the chip Frederick mentioned in the cabinet, and took it.
"This is it. Here—take it and go. We… we'll never tell anyone you were here. We swear!"
V rejoined Leo, whose face held a faint, chilling smile.
"Who said we're leaving?"
Gottfrid tried stepping in front of his son to protect him, but he was afraid any sudden movement might provoke an attack. He froze in place, nervous and confused.
"You got what you came for. What else do you want?"
Leo waved the original chip in front of them. "So who killed the preacher's kid? Who gave you this footage?"
Almost without hesitation, Gottfrid replied, "We only care about the BD quality. We don't ask who filmed it."
"You're not telling the truth, huh?"
Leo stepped away from Jackie, no longer holding him back.
Jackie lunged at Gottfrid, slamming him to the ground. His huge fists rained down, three blows enough to twist the man's features into a bloody mess.
Frederick looked ready to jump in but hesitated at the sight of Jackie's biceps—bigger than his own thighs—and lost his nerve, resorting to begging.
"No! Please, stop! Don't hit him! You'll kill my father if you keep going!"
"Don't you two love editing black braindances? Isn't it such a thrill? Now that it's happening to you, why can't you stomach it?"
Despite Jackie's anger toward Gottfrid, he stopped after three punches. He wasn't a total madman—he just wanted the man alive for Leo's questioning.
Gottfrid, ignoring the blood trickling into his mouth, gasped, "Stop, stop—I'll talk! I'll tell everything I know, I swear!"
Jackie hauled him to his feet with a look of disdain.
Stumbling back a couple steps, Gottfrid wiped the blood from his face. "I truly don't know who sent the raw footage. W-wait, don't hit me again, I mean it—I really don't know!"
Jackie bristled. "Then it just fell out of the sky?"
"I'm telling the truth. I found it on the factory floor not long ago, no clue who threw it in here."
Leo crossed his arms. "What about your surveillance? You've got cameras all over, right? Don't tell me they weren't recording."
Gottfrid forced a bitter laugh. "Checked them. Nothing. Whoever tossed it in hacked the system first, shut everything off remotely. There's no footage at all."
Realizing they'd gotten all they could from these two.
---------------------
Notes:
In the game what was your decision? Did you end both of them? One? or leave them alone entirely?